Sarah Palin, Paul Revere, & a New Take on the American Road Trip

Many candidates pen books to help raise their profile as a candidate. Others take up new issues or causes to be seen as more serious. Sarah Palin opts for a good old American road trip on her 'One Nation' bus tour of the country.

In a move designed to propel her national image and move her closer to a presidential run, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is on a 'One Nation' bus tour of historical sites that were key to the formation, survival, and growth of the United States of America.

The Bus tour kicked off May 29th and has already been a memorable one with her gaffe during a recent visit to the old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts where she stated that Paul Revere warned the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms by ah ringing those bells and um makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that ah we were going to be secure; we were going to be free.

After the media pointed out some flaws in her American history, she simply claimed, You know what? I didn't mess up about Paul Revere. Here's what Paul Revere did: he warned the Americans that the British are coming . . . and they were going to try and take our arms so we gotta make sure that we were protecting ourselves . . . and a part of his ride was to warn the British that we were already there. That 'hey you're not going to succeed, you're not going to take American arms, you are not going to beat our own well-armed persons individual private militia that we have.'

In case you have any doubts about Palin's knowledge of American history, she does have a painting of the constitution on her bus along with an American map (though Alaska is roughly the same size of half of the continental U.S.).

Palin's website, sarahpac.com claims that the 'One Nation Tour' is part of a new campaign to educate and energize American's about our nation. You can be the judge of how well that is working out.

So what is this classic American tour / botched history lesson all about?

According to Real Clear Politics: In spite of the celebrity profile that she has embraced since 2008, the unorthodox nature of the bus tour indicates that Palin recognizes that she would have to run a grass-roots campaign that removes some of her shine, in order to highlight her blue-collar persona.

When ABC News asked Palin how she was paying for the road trip on a visit to the Statue of Liberty, she replied, How am I paying for it? SarahPAC. She added that she is traveling in her own personal motor home that we've had in Alaska. When further provoked, a frustrated Palin added, I don't know why in the world you would ask a question like that. I'm just thinking about America and our foundations and our freedoms and our opportunities.

Like any good American road trip with an air of lofty patriotism, Palin is hitting the highlights:

Face time at Rolling Thunder - an annual Memorial Day weekend motorcycle rally in Washington D.C.

Good question! Palin refuses to give out details about her travel schedule, forcing reporters to literally chase her oversized vehicle up I-95 in order to cover her every move. Palin hasn't even made it particularly easy for fans to seek her out, interacting with supporters largely at impromptu events that haven't been announced in advance (ie the Coffee Express and the Golden Egg).

The tour's website has not been updated since Friday June 3 - the day that Palin told Sean Hannity that not being a candidate while touring the country was a very liberating feeling.